1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to mounting components to a circuit board and, more particularly, to low-profile mounting of a multi-conductor coaxial cable launch to an electronic circuit board.
2. Description of the Related Art
Physical space within the enclosures of electronic devices is often limited. For a given electronic device, the size of the enclosure may impose restrictions on the physical sizes of electronic circuit boards, as well as a restriction on the number of electronic circuit boards housed within the enclosure. For example, it is often desirable to include diagnostic interface circuitry within an electronic device to allow connection to various diagnostic devices, such as oscilloscopes and logic analyzers. However, since space within the enclosure is at a premium, it is desirable to take up as little of that space as possible with the diagnostic interface circuitry to leave more room for the principle circuitry of the electronic device.
Diagnostic devices are increasingly being connected with electronic devices using coaxial cable. Creating a junction between coaxial cables and electronic circuit boards has provided a well known challenge. In particular, for a multi-conductor coaxial cable, a typical interconnect (“launch”) involves mounting the multi-conductor coaxially cable to the top surface of the circuit board. The center conductors of the multi-conductor coaxially cable are formed downward during soldering to individual conductive pads on the circuit board surface. The outer conductors of the multi-conductor coaxial cable are soldered to a single long pad connected to a ground. However, the profile of this interconnect may be too large for some enclosures. Notably, the distance from the top of the multi-conductor coaxial cable to the bottom of the circuit board may prevent the circuit board from fitting within the enclosure. It is thus desirable to provide a coaxial cable launch on a circuit board that exhibits a lower profile.